Programming Update Part 1 - 10/29

Howdy y'all. I just needed to make a post because I'm super excited about the following:

The controls/collisions are fixed.

As of now all the game is feeling WAY more fluid- and the solution was literally adding a line of code to the creation of player-related objects. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but Brian gave me an idea in class that I ran with and figured out the solution:

Essentially it was to change all blocks collision detection regions and scale them. I seriously don't know why I didn't do this before, and I had a dumb system set up where the player tests their position related to the colliding object after they've collided (really stupid...). I guess because I was working with dynamic objects, I didn't see an opportunity/possibility of scaling the collider without scaling the gameObject.

Turns out you can do this...in one line.

So I did it, but I did it slightly differently than Brian suggested:
Instead of doing it to all obstacle blocks, I did it to all player-related blocks: the player, stilts, left/right collider blocks. It seems to be working very well now :D

Team- I'm sorry it took so long for me to finally do this. Stupid David is stupid.
World- Be looking for some great changes come next week! Score blocks are gonna be super fun/tight once I'm done with them this weekend and assets are gonna start pouring into the world making the game really shine!

Goals for Tuesday/Time of Programming Update Part 2 post:
- Score Block fluidity (Add special collision cases due to natural difference in behavior)
- More Assets (Models/Sounds)
- Better Front/Back End Placeholders

Overachiever Goals:
- Transparent blocks when player is not visible
- Dynamic Camera Adjustment

workworkworkworkworkworkworkworkworkwork

-David

Updated Schedule 10/25

Week 7 10/31
Overall Goal: Strive for Content Complete
Tech: Continue to crush bugs and refine.
Art: Get the rest of the animations roughed out and begin finalizing the others.
Design: Make final adjustments to movement and finalize some of the level design. Spread things out!
Audio: Make sure all the sounds get in game and finish finding/making the intro music.

Week 8 11/7
Overall Goal: Hopeful content complete still hopeful.
Tech: Bug fixing, but freeze on new features if possible.
Art: Have all the animations at the least roughed out and in the game. Work on finalizing/polishing.
Design: Finish the level(s).
Audio: All placeholder music/sounds replaced with our own.

Week 9 11/14
Overall Goal: Hopefully be able to relax. (Testing in reality.)
Tech: Become bug-less.
Art: Fiddle with positions of objects and make sure that all animation is running the way you'd like it.
Design: Check for level flow and make last minute tweaks.
Audio: Check levels of all the sounds and music to make sure we aren't blowing peoples ear drums or being way too quite.


Week 10 11/22
GAME DUE

Post Alpha Feedback Analysis

Here's some of the feedback we received from the Alpha presentation.

Mechanic Ideas:

- Extending the track beyond three lanes.

- Inverse of our current gameplay for a certain amount of time. (Just collect as many blocks as you can!)

- Collect blocks to unlock the extended track lane.

- Blocks/Power-Ups that affect your time directly.

- A way to display your track position when you aren't visible?

Things to Fiddle With/Fix:

- The camera is still an issue.

   - Don't be afraid to change the visual design of the space as long as it benefits the gameplay.

   - Need to make the character visible at all times.

      - Transparency on the blocks between you and the camera?
      - Limit the use of tall blocks or provide the extended track to avoid them?

- Still need transitions for win/loss.

- Better way to represent the time?

- Tweaking for controls still needed a bit.

Phil Update 10/25

Towards the end of last week I started re-tooling our current level and with Brian's feedback I'm trying to start spacing things out a bit more to give leeway for players to sort of roam the track during some sections.

I do think it's a good idea for us to explore the idea of a "collect as many blocks as you can!" section in each track or multiple shorter tracks.

I've been a bit busy with everything else that's been going on. We're preparing Octodad 2 to be shown at MineCon and work has been busy lately. I'm going to try and adjust our schedule today to better reflect where we're at in development.

Programming Update

A few things got done this week. I had work in other classes that needed attention so I added/fixed some small things in the game.

The main change I made was the style of level generation. The ground looks like it's spinning off of a film reel rather than just appearing in the distance. This gives the game some style and more cohesive of a theme.

That being said, this feature has created a bug that messes with the way stiltblocks work, so I there's a small kink in the system that currently is messing with the performance of stiltblocks (when you're at full power up and you hit a 2-block high section, you don't fall all the way to the ground, but rather you float 1 block high :\ )

This week I'll implement the controls that Brian suggested in class/email to see how it functions/feels as well as work on implementing post-alpha criticism features (camera suggestions, filter suggestions, some more art assets, transparent blocks).

We already have so much done- because of this I've started to lose momentum. I just need to keep in the mindset that a game is never finished and that there still is plenty to go from now until the end of the quarter.

If we don't have the crucial features (stable controls/functionality) by November please feel free to spam me with emails until I've made it happen.

Or hit me.

-David

Logan - Update (10/24)

So this week I didn't get much more done on sound. I'll be adjusting the volumes in Unity of the sounds once they are all set (since they are rather off right now...unless David already did it. But don't worry David if you didn't, just let me know where all the sounds are.)

I thought about splash screens/opening page and whatnot. I think it'd be cool to either do some kind of movie poster as a splash/opening, or have the start screen be a movie screen with the character mid run cycle (or animated) with silouettes of an audience bordering the bottom of the movie screen (either static or as flickering shadows.)

Here are some ideas I drew up real quick in Paint, nothing too fancy as you see, but ideas..

As I'm looking at these though I realize there is no evidence of blocks being part of the game besides the name haha =P well, something to get ideas flowing.

CasaBlocka Alpha Vid Preview

HERE IT IS. The video gets a bit choppy at one point, but otherwise I think it gives people a good idea of what the gameplay is like.

Programming Update!

Even though I've been very busy, I've made a good deal of progress since our last update. Here's a list of the things I've added! :D

*More fluid controls
   They still aren't perfect, but they're getting closer to a desirable feel! This will probably be the hardest part to nail and will require some dedication in weeks to come

*Score now displayed in Elapsed Time
   Very simple change- basically your score means something now. Displayed in seconds on the bottom right corner of the player HUD (GUI is a whole other story...we'll be working on that in the next week or so)

*Stilts glitch is gone!
   There was a glitch that would cause you to lose one of your bonus blocks immediately after gaining them! This was frustrating and lessened player experience during play testing. I'm happy to confirm it's gone!

*Aesthetic starting to come together
    - Glow added to power blocks
    - Placeholders for images on the special blocks!
    - Color added to environment/blocks
    - Camera filters added for old-timey flare

*Added sounds
   - New music
   - Power block hit
   - Stilts block hit
   - Tunnel block hit

*Added screen in background
   This screen replicates what the player's image on the cube is doing. This is a really cool effect we talked about implementing before and I through it together in a few minutes. I think it looks good so far, and we're looking on expanding its capabilities for further immersion.

These are all things that have been added and are functioning in our current alpha build. We're really excited to show our video to the class and show off the work from the past weeks!

The following are features I'm working on implementing as I type!

*Snazzy world generation
   This is actually working at the moment. It might have caused a small glitch here or there...so I'm not calling it functional at the moment. Basically the world now generates from below and above and comes together in time for the player to interact with it! Think of two snakes slamming into each other and running in unison towards the player (worst analogy ever).

*More sounds implemented
   The sounds really add a lot to the feel of the game. I can't wait to put more of Logan's work into the game!

*Front/Back end splashes
   These will really make the game feel complete. Front and back end menus will give users the sense of a full game rather than a pieced together build in future playtests

*Implementing the Movie Intro on the back screen
   This is just a matter of me sitting down with Unity Pro and making this happen. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes- I have placeholder logics that just needs to be filled with functionality.

*Tighter controls
   I doubt this will be done this week, but hey- a man can dream

That's all for now folks! Get pumped for some slick looking videos in the weeks to come. This game is really coming together nicely :D

-David

Alpha Video

So I came to realize that all the lab computers don't have registered versions of FRAPS. I recorded two shorter clips and spliced them together last minute because I also thought this was due Thursday. Basically I suck.

This Week 10-18 Logan

This week I submitted more mechanic sounds:

- tunnel block

- power up

- block drop (drop down from power up)

and new game play music.

I'll be tightening the sounds if need be, please let me know if something sounds strange or needs to be tweaked or changed completely, I'm not personally attached to these sounds so I won't be offended ;) I don't want it to suck! Do we need lane shifting sounds, or would that be too much. I think having the lane light up is enough to show a lane change but that's just my opinion.

Update Level Design With Better Spacing

Right now it clocks in at about 40 seconds, but that also obviously depends on how well you play.

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Phil Update 10/18

For this update I've put the level together to prepare for our alpha video showcasing the gameplay. Trying to tweak that for Thursday's presentation.

Mharcourt 10/17/11

This week I made the model for the sandbag. I will be texturing it shortly and baking the textures in. After I texture it I will start work on the projector lens.

Logan - Update

As far as the weekend, I didn't get much done (as I mentioned in class/meeting I was camping from Fri-Mon in Michigan, needless to say, no internet/limited computer activity). Earlier this week though I acquired replacement music (haven't put it on the server yet) for the gameplay. I have several piano-based 'rags' and tunes that I believe should much better fit the theme (as we discussed changing the current music). I also have some possible powerup and tunnel block sounds we can test out.

Update 10/11 - Phil

I didn't personally get a lot done last week due to being stupidly busy with other stuff, but I did have time to run some playtests and write up our post playtest analysis. This week I'd like to adjust my level ideas to really work with how the collisions have changed.

MRHarcour This week

I will admit that I didn't really get anything done this week. I started on the Countdown timer but haven't finished it yet, I also haven't started the second task of environment sketches yet. Like David I was completely burned out, not by this project but by everything else. After taking the weekend off I feel very refreshed and eager to get back into action and will hopefully get those things to you guys either by tuesday morning or tuesday evening.

Back in Action! - Programming Update

I will start this post by saying that after this past week, I was burned out. I've been working so much on this project (as well as other things) that I was beginning to not enjoy/appreciate programming this game as well as my other side projects- This caused me to take a small break where I just stepped back from the game and all programming related work and got outside and did non-computer things. This gave me a fresh perspective on my work and I'm re-energized just in time for the back end of the quarter!

As for updates to the game since my last post, here's what's up:

In time for the tissue testing (Wednesday night) I was able to add the following-
1) Collision testing for the stilts/heightened blocks
2) The ability to restart the game for convenience
3) An end-state for the game
4) More intimate variable control for designers to tweak with ease
5) Score keeping/tracking

These features allowed us to have a successful first test of the game with our testers. While I was on a programming high of getting all of these features in and working, they were overshadowed by another problem: The controls.

The controls worked. collisions worked. what was the problem? fluidity

The collision checking system was not only inefficient, but also too constraining. It gave no slack to the player to cut corners and make twitch movements to avoid obstacles. Most of the complaints/feedback we received about the game revolved around the controls being more flexible/forgiving. This was hard for me to hear and watch when having testers play, because it totally took away from the immersion and overall enjoyment of the game. That being said, I took the feedback well and (after my previously mentioned break) got to work on fixing this problem!

So tonight I fixed it, or at least I THINK I did. With the new functionality I was able to get through the two hardest test builds we made without getting hit (not SUPER hard, but it proved to be do-able finally!) I won't truly know until we get more playtesters to give fresh feedback and maybe have the dev team/old testers confirm the better feel. I'm very close to completely covering my tracks for the new collision/control system and I'm excited to show it to everyone on Tuesday!

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK:
1) Dynamic camera shifting based on environment
    This is a very important feature we need to add. When we start stacking blocks for a visual & challenging effect, players oftentimes have a hard time telling where they are or where there's an opening for them to maneuver through. I'm going to have the camera adjust appropriately for the player to be able to see his cube and dodge without an accidental hindrance.

2) Visual Flare
    I need to make the special blocks more in-tune with the rest of our piece. This will essentially be me toying with lighting to create visual feedback for the player to recognize important objects!

3) Bug Fixin's
    Self explanatory. There are a few that are very small (some not even noticed by the player), but present enough to potentially hinder the flow of play. I will exterminate these bugs ASAP

4) Score Conversion
    This isn't hard. Instead of displaying the players score in total update calls, display it in time. This gives meaning to the player and will allow them to better identify the goal for the game.

Hopefully I will have these things implemented in time for our next test (as of now I plan on it) so we can achieve the most effect results. Even though some of the feedback we got hit some nerves, it was all based around problems that are bound to be in a pre-alpha build. Most players said the game was fun when it was working as expected which made me VERY HAPPY! :D

This game is coming very well. I can't wait to see it continue to grow and present a fun experience to all who get to try it!

Cheers,
David

Post Playtest Analysis

- Movement is too jerky and doesn’t feel fluid. There are many times when I wanted to move, but couldn’t due to blocks next to me as I passed by. The window where you can move is too small. There’s not really much room for preemptive movements.

- Level design scale is very different from what it looks like on paper and is easily affected by the movement problem above which doesn't allow for much intricacy. General designs are good to have, but knowing exactly how those will translate to the game is crucial when using something like a text parsing system that isn’t necessarily 1:1 in feeling.

- Player’s don’t seem to care about the game because they don’t get any background information about what they’re trying to achieve. Even though they understand the mechanic they don’t understand what the motivation to be successful is. What we really need is a context to somewhat mask the mechanical objective with.

- People generally want to see more art and are taken back by how rough the game looks.

- UI is currently more of a hindrance to look to because of the general urgency of the gameplay. Make it stand out more and easier to read.

- People really enjoy the speed boosts and height power ups. Especially combined. Utilize these more, but don’t over populate the levels with them.

- A different camera angle is definitely needed for sequences in which there are more than one block high sections in your way because otherwise it completely blocks your field of view.

- A good amount of space should be placed between each power block before you get the “jump”
because you need time in between each to kind of get your bearings. Right now they’re too close to one another and if a player misses them early on and doesn’t learn what they do then they may get screwed over later on when they actually need them.

- Long sections of block may be a bad idea when there’s a complicated section right before because if you screw up that section and hit these blocks then you’ve basically lost. Maybe implement temporary invulnerability after you’ve hit a block?

- Pacing is everything and right now designing for that is a bit of a challenge. This will have to become extremely iterative in order to feel correct.

MRHarcourt Report 10/4/11

This week I resigned the skybox wall textures and did QA testing. I found three bugs with the level.

Floating block bug > get stilts then run into a stack equal to your current height you will then become a floating block.

Under the level bug > Get stilts then run into a row of 1 stack blocks.

Clone Bug > player will have a controllable duplicate by running into multiple blocks while in "stilts mode" I'm still trying to do this on command.

Level edit bug, Not sure what is going on here but for some reason in the section of TEST2 between lines 23 and 24

Weekly Update - Production

This past week I have:

• Continued work on the level.
• Updated the team schedule to include Audio planning and any recent changes to our plan.
• Come up with a set of post playtest questions for players.

Everything seems to be going really well and I think the game is coming along nicely. Programming is completely on track as David's shown in some of his updates. Audio is coming along nicely and  Logan seems to have a good plan laid out that fits the aesthetic feel of the game. Animations are complete for the walk cycle animation from the side of the player and I believe Joe started on the behind-view as well. Matt gave us some environment art to make it feel a bit more like a game.

Logan - Sound Update

This week:

-Created a basic sound doc (as posted earlier this week)

-Continued collecting sounds/samples to modify.

-I'm going to be submitting placeholder music and begin working on the mechanic and atmosphere sounds.

If any of the 'placeholders' seem to fit just right then we can use those. I hope to have at least the basic sounds/music available to plug into our game within the next few days (so we can have them for playtesting as seen in the schedule).

Weekly Update - Programming

So while I was able to add some new components to the game, I wasn't nearly as efficient this week as I have been in the past. I was able to implement some temporary/basic assets so our game actually looks and feels somewhat like A GAME. I believe the lower level of efficiency this week was also caused by me having to go back and clean up some functionality methods in order for our game to even work (more will have to be done soon to :\ ), but I still was able to add a few new design capabilities and features! Here's a list of the features I added in the last week:

*Added new options/functionality to the file parser
*Fixed the behavior of the blocks created below the player after the power chain sequence
*Reworked how our game manages recycling resources
*Improved stability of collision checking
*Fixed the functionality of the power chain sequence/block generation!
*Implemented the system of the music speeding up/slowing down alongside the player's speed
*Added the Skybox with temporary assets into the scene


What I'm hoping to have done before Thursday is the following:

*A Game End-State
*Rework behaviors into classes for better variable management
*Allow for more dynamic shifting between speeds
       - How much they speed up
       - How long it takes for them before they advance to the next speed
*Discuss the appropriate behaviors for all instances of collision with the team and implement them into the game

Once these features have been implemented, all we'll need is a few more assets and we will have an official alpha build. From there it will just be ironing out the level designs and game flow pattern to really let the mechanics of Casablocka shine! I'm really excited for the coming weeks, because we'll finally be able to see our hard work pay off and hopefully get some helpful feedback from playtesting!

 Until next time!
-Dave